Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to padlock my gate?

252 replies

KTMP16 · 26/05/2022 15:26

Im the last in a row of houses so mines a semi and iv a sidegate....
So my problem is my next door neighbour (and often his kids) will leave the back of their house...casually stroll through my garden and out of my gate, leaving it unlocked for when they come back.

They seem to just think they have the right to do it - theres a gate in the fence (there before i moved in) its just feels so intrusive and I dont know what to do im not a confrontational person. I did padlock it in the past and say i didnt want it unlocked as my young kid would spy his chance to leg it. They just kept knocking on every other day with a plea for me to undo it for them for one reason or another so i gave up. I dont understand why they cant use their own front door?! It doesnt make things quicker!

The guy has literally just walked past my window wheeling his bike and Im fuming and thought id turn to the wise people of mumsnet for advice!

OP posts:
Babdoc · 26/05/2022 15:41

Ouch, yes, WhoWants2Know, Pyracantha has savage thorns - excellent deterrent!

Original poster
KTMP16 · 26/05/2022 15:42

Oh god, it looks like i need to draw.. not my strong point, bear with me

Is there a way to find out if they have a right of way?

OP posts:
ButtockUp · 26/05/2022 15:42

Really need a diagram.
Preferably with interesting garden features and jauntily scribbled stick people.

fyn · 26/05/2022 15:45

@KTMP16 do you own the property, if so look at the deeds and possibly your neighbours.

SarahSissions · 26/05/2022 15:45

Sounds to me like they have right of access, so there’s nothing you can really do. Your solicitor should’ve made you aware when you bought the property.
you could put a lock in it but you would need to let them have the code and come and go as they please.
your best bet is to ask them very, very nicely if they wouldn’t mind putting out their bins the night before.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 26/05/2022 15:46

Can the gate be unlocked from both sides, and if so could you use a combination lock? (If there is an easement... very common in terraces).

This will increase security for both you and your neighbour.

petalsandstars · 26/05/2022 15:46

Your deeds/ informs from buying the house should say if there’s a right of way. We used to have a right of access on a path behind our old neighbours to take the bins etc out as we had no front/side garden access as a mid-terrace. It was a proper path though not in their garden and had been designed that way.

ItsDinah · 26/05/2022 15:46

If I understand correctly, there is a gate in the fence that separates your back garden from the neighbour (the back fence gate);the neighbour uses that gate to enter your garden and crosses it to exit onto the road from the gate out of your garden( the front gate). Block the back fence gate with,for example, a big trough with large plants in it ,a set of compost bins,a wendy-house - or all of these. Something really solid and hard to shift or walk round. Padlock your front gate.

Runnerduck34 · 26/05/2022 15:47

Check if they have right of access? Solicitor should have highlighted this during purchase, so worth going back to your Solicitor. Its quite common for older houses to have access like this. DM lives in a terrace she has access across neighbours rear garden ( close to their house) to a side passage that leads from rear garden to road at front. Historically its meant for bin men/ coal men / deliveries etc.
Having said that she never uses it casually, only if she really needs to which is rare.
If they don't have right to access then yes padlock it.

FOJN · 26/05/2022 15:51

Your Solicitor should have told you if your neighbours have a right of access across your property when you purchased the house. If you are renting then the letting agent should also have made that clear. You need to find this out. If they don't then you need to put a stop to it as they may be able to claim that right in the future.

If they don't then you need to change the gate for a fence panel so that there is no means of access to discuss. Do not be intimidated. If they don't have right of access the they are CF's.

AntonHeck · 26/05/2022 15:52

Why do you need our permission to padlock your own gate?

Original poster
KTMP16 · 26/05/2022 15:58

AntonHeck · 26/05/2022 15:52

Why do you need our permission to padlock your own gate?

Well i rent and I've just now been told about right of access lol

AIBU to padlock my gate?
OP posts:
Forestdweller11 · 26/05/2022 15:59

Why do you need permission to lock your own gate? Because other properties might have a right of access. Particularly relevant in a terrace.

IncompleteSenten · 26/05/2022 16:01

You'd need to asking the letting agency or landlord

Even if he does, there may be restrictions on his use of it so you need to find out

Original poster
KTMP16 · 26/05/2022 16:02

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 26/05/2022 15:46

Can the gate be unlocked from both sides, and if so could you use a combination lock? (If there is an easement... very common in terraces).

This will increase security for both you and your neighbour.

It can be unbolted from my garden side not from the other side

This is what annoys me as its left unlocked until whenever he gets back

OP posts:
ChocolateDeficitDisorder · 26/05/2022 16:08

I reckon that there's a 99% chance that this is legal Right of Access (and potentially 'at all times and for all purposes') although you do have to get your landlord to confirm unless you want to download the deeds for both you and the neighbour's house to check. It might be on either one or both, either way if it's there it exists.

It's a perfectly normal arrangement for terraced houses and there's nothing you can do to change it as the right belongs to the property, not the people. The houses will be valued accordingly. You can't lock the gate without offering them a key and they have no responsibility to close the gate after them.

TrashyPanda · 26/05/2022 16:16

It’s common for these sorts of properties to have a right of access over the end house, to take bins out etc.

you need to check the title sheet.

ChocolateDeficitDisorder · 26/05/2022 16:18

Is there also a gate from your neighbour to his neighbour on the other side? Just to add insult to injury, those neighbours may also have a right to go through your garden too...

SoupDragon · 26/05/2022 16:22

Im the last in a row of houses so mines a semi and iv a sidegate.

so you're an end of terrace?

if so it is likely that they do actually have a right of access.

QuebecBagnet · 26/05/2022 16:23

KTMP16 · 26/05/2022 15:42

Oh god, it looks like i need to draw.. not my strong point, bear with me

Is there a way to find out if they have a right of way?

I’d ask your letting agent to ask the landlord/owner.

smileyworld · 26/05/2022 16:24

Check right of way.

VioletHills · 26/05/2022 16:25

If it's a semi don't they have their own side gate to go through?

Gudbrand · 26/05/2022 16:26

They will have right of access. There's a similar thread going on at the moment where the OP has been told by her landlord she can only go through the neighbour's part of the garden once a week with the bins - but if it's a legal right of access she can't be stopped from doing this.

RockAndOrRoll · 26/05/2022 16:26

Yep, that there is a gate in their fence that leads them into your garden suggests there might be a right of access.

A question for your letting agent...

MagneticRubberDucks · 26/05/2022 16:30

I had this issue before, they never used their front door, always the back, and it drove me mad.

i put a lock on both of the gates and said it was required by my home insurance for security.
i told them I would unlock it on bin day between 8-10 and 4-6 for taking the bin out and bringing it back in, and if they needed access just to knock and I’d unlock it for them.
they tried to argue they needed to have a key, but I said it would invalidate my home insurance.

They tried to make a point of knocking every day because they needed to take something in and out, but eventually they got sick of it and stopped.